I’m a designer and researcher who has worked on projects big and small for brands, startups, the public sector, and everything in between. Here are the things I can help you with:
Art/design direction
Branding
Digital design
Environmental design
Packaging design
Print design
Product development
Qualitative research
Service design
and more, just ask
Currently, I’m a Senior Design Lead at the Public Policy Lab. I live in Los Angeles.
Email: peteyroutzahn@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/e6fRYzWf
Petey Routzahn, 2024
Index ▸ Rental Access
Print design
Qualitative research
Service design
Completed in 2023 with the Public Policy Lab for the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) and funded by The New York Fund to End Youth & Family Homelessness.
Team
Jess Francois
Meera Rothman
Sophia Geanacopoulos
Ying Tang
Rental Access
I led a team of researchers and designers to interview unhoused young adults, landlords, and subject matter experts in homelessness. We used the findings to design a city program that makes renting more accessible for unhoused young adults in New York City.
Background
Many youth and young adults in New York City lack access to stable housing. When attempting to secure housing, unhoused and unstably housed youth and young adults often do not have the same support as their peers: advice from relatives with experience navigating the rental market, a co-signer to guarantee the lease, and money to weather the occasional setback.
Rental Access is a report containing the outputs of over 50 semi-structured interviews with young adults, landlords, and staff at youth homeless shelters about the challenges young adults face when navigating the private rental market. The report contains a program blueprint modeled after existing rental access programs that have successfully connected unhoused adults with long-term housing and is refined based on the specific needs of youth 18–24 who are unhoused or unstably housed.
This project is part of a federal initiative to decrease youth homelessness. It was created in partnership with youth-centered New York City agencies to develop new support for unstably housed youth and young adults who want to rent an apartment successfully.
My Role
I was the Project Lead and Design Lead for Rental Access. I managed day-to-day operations, client relationships, and an internal team to conduct human-centered design research and develop the program concept and final printed publication.
Specifically, I
Drafted a project plan, research plan, and other strategic documents and was in charge of completing the 4-month project on time and budget
Managed research operations for over 40 interviews with young adults in homeless shelters, landlords, and subject matter experts and led the synthesis process to derive the program concept
Co-designed the program components—including an institutional co-signer, a stability fund, a lease liaison team, a vetted landlord list, and an information and referral line—which work together to provide financial, logistical, and emotional support as youth submit rental applications in a very competitive NYC housing market
Hosted workshops with city agency staff and unhoused young adults to ensure the program responded to the main challenges young adults face when transitioning out of shelters and into rental housing
Served as the content manager, designed the publication, and managed the printing process
Similar to Rental Access
I led the creation of a qualitative database for civic research featuring over 100 hours of interviews with older adults about their experience with aging and accessing healthcare.
See more
Art/design direction
Digital design
Product development
Qualitative research